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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25198612">Fallen from grace</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Totallymindlessbabble/pseuds/Totallymindlessbabble'>Totallymindlessbabble</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>As If! by Cher Horowitz [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Station 19 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 09:40:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,046</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25198612</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Totallymindlessbabble/pseuds/Totallymindlessbabble</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What if...</p><p>A collection of really wacky and unrealistic ways that Hughes and Ripley's relationship was brought to light!</p><p>Because why the hell not?</p><p>🤔😏🤭😊🤫🤪</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Victoria Hughes/Lucas Ripley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>As If! by Cher Horowitz [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823152</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fallen from grace</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Sorry if you hate it but I'm really not sorry...</p><p> </p><p>This is just meant for fun</p><p>As always</p><p>Happy reading!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>Reaching out to rescue</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>one another under</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>Any condition is an</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>eternal measure of love</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Ronald A. Rasband</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Andrea Herrera had practically grown up in a fire station. Her father had been Captain at 19 for nearly as long as she could remember. Before that, he was a lieutenant.</p><p>When she'd been about 12, She'd been ill and was sent home from school. Her mom had passed before then so Pruitt Herrera had little choice, than to take his daughter to work with him.</p><p>On this particular day, he was short staffed and the Battalion Chief at the time, Morrison, had sent him a new recruit, from station 88, to cover for the shift. Rookie Lucas Ripley had been, what Andy then referred to as, dreamy! He had thick blonde hair and you could see his muscles through his uniform shirt. He smiled kindly at her and talked to her like an adult. She might have, had a teeny tiny crush after that.</p><p>Her Dad had noticed and to tease the rookie, had demanded he find him his left handed haligan! </p><p>It'd taken three hours for Ripley to work out that there was no such thing as a left handed haligan. </p><p>Andy would have been angry. She would have been embarrassed. If she was truthful, she probably would have cried.</p><p>Lucas Ripley had done none of that. </p><p>He'd laughed. Not an awkward tinkle. A full blown, hearty laugh. </p><p>She'd learn later in life that, that was why he was universally liked and respected. He was serious, but had a sense of humour when necessary. He could take a joke, but never treated the job like one.</p><p>He'd seen the funny side and Captain Herrera had stared at him in wonder.</p><p>When the shift ended, Lucas Ripley had placed a kiss on young Andrea's cheek and said</p><p>"Thanks for not teasing me about the left handed haligan!" He winked at her and she'd blushed bright red. </p><p>When she left the station a few minutes later with her father, he turned to her and said</p><p>"Andrea...remember that man, because mark my words, he'll go far!" Andy had been surprised, because she hadn't believed that her father liked the rookie after the cruel trick he'd played.</p><p>They'd never discussed Lucas Ripley again. Not until he made it to chief at the tender age of 39. Seattle's youngest fire chief ever, sixteen years later.</p><p>"Told you he'd go far!" Pruitt announced and Andy smiled.</p><p>Her Dad considered him a difficult man to impress. She wondered if he was or if he was just unimpressed by Pruitt and his mean tricks on new firefighters.</p><p>Most people considered him fair and approachable. Though any remnants of her crush had been officially wiped at the incinerator when he'd disagreed with the call she'd made, ranking her last out of all candidates.</p><p>Any respect he might have had for her was also lost, at the skyscraper, when she swiped the keys for the elevator out of his hand.</p><p>If that wasn't insubordination, she didn't know what was. Actually, she'd agree it was pretty fair to say, she was lucky she still had a job. </p><p>He never showed emotion. He was calm and collected at all scenes. She wondered what he was like outside of the uniform? Did he have someone he went home to? Was there someone he shared his tough decisions with? Or did he shoulder the responsibility alone?.</p><p>She was on aid car. That was why she had a bit more time to observe him. Curiosity getting the better of her. He was only about three metres away from her. His turnout gear loosely gracing his still toned figure as he delegated specific roles to specific firefighters. </p><p>He intrigued her because he was one of the only people she'd ever met or known, that she couldn't tell, even a tiny bit, what he was thinking. His face was impenetrable. </p><p>After the skyscraper, a year before, she'd started paying more attention to him. She'd realised at that fire, that his job involved decisions that she couldn't understand how he could be comfortable making them. Until she'd realised that he was unfeeling. He must have been. He was willing to sacrifice Gibson. They'd been at several incidents since, one where She'd seen him stop an active RIT entering a building after a mayday call from a firefighter from 12. The RIT commander had disagreed with his decision and been quick to tell him, even going so far as to try to bypass the Chiefs orders and send the RIT in anyway. </p><p>Ripley had blown, unlike anything she'd seen from him. He'd publicly berated the RIT commander, in the middle of the parking lot, while half the SFD watched.</p><p>Gibson had dryly commented to Hughes, who was stiffly standing next to her, that they'd just witnessed a riptide! Hughes had sniggered lightly, before schooling her features.</p><p>Andy hadn't been completely sure what that was about, but put it down to Vic's dislike of the chief! She'd shouted at him. Twice and he'd threatened her job in turn. She knew, she could rely on Vic's solidarity in her dislike of the man.</p><p>It turned out that, that time, Ripley had made the right call. He'd barely finished berating the RIT commander, before the building had been engulfed in a fireball, due to flash over. </p><p>Ripley had very loudly told the other man that he was lucky he still had a job! That he could thank pure dumb luck for that!</p><p>The whole situation had not been pretty and two firefighters were lost.</p><p>The entire team had been quiet for the rest of the shift. Somehow they'd managed to come to the topic of recovery over dinner. Miller was the only one who had taken part in a recovery.</p><p>"It's not nice, not nice at all!" Miller said, voice uncharacteristically solemn. Not nice clearly didn't cover it, even for Miller, but he couldn't voice the words to explain how it really felt.</p><p>"It makes me angrier at Ripley!" Andy had announced "He could have let that RIT in. They might have saved them!"</p><p>"The might in that sentence shows me you still have a lot to learn before you can rule a ship, Herrera!" Sullivan called, as he walked into the beanery. "That's why Rip's the chief and you're a lieutenant. He sees the bigger picture. It's not as simple as they might have been saved. It's not putting more of his team at risk than is necessary. It's weighing up the likelihood that risking eight lives is going to result in eight people making it back out of the building. Have those two firefighters got a chance? Is the chance big enough to justify six extra deaths? The Chief is a good man, who does what he can to preserve as many lives as he can each and every day. I promise you that! I have personal experience. Sometimes, the right call is not the easiest!"</p><p>"Tell that to the recovery team, that will have nightmares about the bodies they have to pick up today!" Miller countered darkly.</p><p>Surprisingly, it was Montgomery that spoke</p><p>"Chief Ripley will be a part of that recovery team. He'll have those nightmares too!" Hughes shuffled awkwardly next to Herrera "He was part of Michael's recovery team. He told me that he's always a part of the recovery. He feels it's a firefighters right, to have the Chief, recognise their sacrifice. He never leaves a scene until every man or woman who can't, has!" </p><p>A silent chill ran around the room at Montgomery's words.</p><p> "He visits every fallen firefighter in hospital on their first night! He says he won't sleep until they've seen him before they do. Again, about respecting their sacrifice!" Warren said, before adding "I ran into him a couple months back, meeting Miranda. We had coffee and an awkward conversation. It made me respect him more if I'm honest! Miranda likes him. They do chief things together" Warren smirked "If Miranda likes you, you've done something right!" He laughed.</p><p>It had been a weird night. All of them reconsidering their opinion on the Chief of the fire department.</p><p>That had been about a month ago. Andy still hadn't decided what hers now was. Hence the questions and thoughts about that man.</p><p>Glancing around at her team she spotted Bishop and Gibson cutting someone out of a car, while Miller and Sullivan were dealing with a car fire a few metres over from them. Montgomery was standing just to her left, cleaning a minor cut. Hughes and Warren were dealing with an aggravated patient, from one of the vehicles that had crashed. It had hit the railings. Warren had bent down to check the guy's leg while Vic stood just behind him, her attention focused on the medic kit she was holding.</p><p>It happened so quickly, Andy didn't even have time to let her cry out.</p><p>The patient Warren was dealing with had suddenly lashed out, kicking at the Firefighter, causing him to hit the car next to him, before slumping to the ground. </p><p>Andy had watched as Hughes' head had snapped up, seeing Warren hit the floor. Her eyes had widened, in the same instance that the erratic man had used his full weight to push against her, sending her stumbling into the railings behind her, her body toppling in slow motion as Andy held her breath. </p><p>Vic let out a cry as she went, head first, towards the water below.</p><p>The whole bridge had gone silent. Or maybe it was just the rush of air that ran through Andy as she watched her friend. </p><p>Miller was the first to react, crying in a very high, un Miller like voice</p><p>"Vic!" His arms reaching out over the rails and grasping air. Gibson and Bishop had already started running towards the railing Vic had gone over. They were moving at a weird speed.</p><p>Andy looked around frantically. It was strange because she'd moved her head at full speed, but everything around her was happening in slow motion. </p><p>She found it weird that Sullivan, who was standing on the other side of the bridge, looked towards her own side, not the area that Hughes had gone over. He was shaking his head, his mouth moving as he reached for his radio, crying something into it. Andy couldn't work out what he was saying. His mouth was moving in slow motion too. His long legs moved in large strides. <em>Maybe he was running </em>Andy thought. But if he was, he was running the wrong way. Hughes had gone over in the other direction. </p><p>Looking in the direction of Sullivan's gaze, Andrea Herrera, was confused to find the Chief of the Seattle Fire department, his whole body stiff, before she watched in fascination as he ripped his turnout jacket off of his body, his pants and boots following at a faster pace than she thought possible, even when her world felt like it was happening half speed. </p><p>She'd never have expected her world to come rushing back when the chief let out a keening groan, his regular black slacks and white shirt the only clothing he had on, which was against regulations, as he ran full speed towards Miller, who was still staring, stock still at the place Hughes had gone over. </p><p>Andy had no idea what was going through his mind, which wasn't unusual. Was this a new stance on preserving lives? Was he running to stop her team from doing something drastic? What was that noise he'd made? If Andy had to explain it, she'd have likened it to a wounded animal. It was sudden and shocking when Sullivan's voice came back to her, normal speed and volume,  as he cried</p><p>"No Luke!"</p><p>What she'd been expecting, she wasn't sure. What had happened, she'd most definitely not been expecting. </p><p>Andrea Herrera witnessed the Chief <em>of the entire department</em> vault the barrier of the bridge and launch himself into the river below.</p><p>She stared in shock. The man who was all about preserving lives and not taking unnecessary risks to save a life that might not survive had just thrown himself off of a bridge and into a river, to save the life of a firefighter he'd once threatened to fire! What had Andy missed in this situation?</p><p>"Damnit!" Sullivan shouted as the rest of her team descended on Warren and Miller. Andy herself, was running across the bridge, Montgomery on her heels "This is Captain Sullivan, where's that damn rescue boat! We've got two firefighters in the water now!" He roared into the radio in frustration.</p><p>It felt like a life time. She watched the water with no sign of life. No body surfaced. She had no idea if it had been thirty seconds or thirty minutes. <em>Vic was down there! Why weren't they doing something?</em></p><p>"The turnouts will weigh her down!" Bishop cried, in panic, bringing Andy back to the present.</p><p>"He's not come back up! Do you think he--" Montgomery called</p><p>"He won't come up without her!" Gibson sounded certain and the team looked at him in wonder. Andy was shocked by the resolve on Gibson's face. What did he know that they didn't</p><p>"Gibson's right!" Sullivan added</p><p>"I don't understand! Why did the chief jump in?" Miller asked uncertainly, voicing her own question. The team held their breath's, waiting for an answer</p><p>"Really Dean! You need a diagram?" Gibson called sarcastically and shock shot through Herrera. Was Gibson suggesting?...</p><p>"Vic and the Chief?" Bishop whispered and Sullivan nodded stoicly as everyone stared in shock.</p><p>Interdepartmental relationships between ranks were prohibited. How had this happened. How had Hughes, the youngest member of there team, barely out of rookie status, found herself involved with a man as serious and stoic as the chief? He was serious and miserable where Vic was energetic and fun loving. </p><p>For a brief moment, it crossed Andy's mind, that perhaps, the chief had taken advantage, before the scene before her, hit rewind in her brain and she replayed him launching himself into the unknown in an effort to reach Hughes! Clearly there were feelings involved! </p><p>Herrera almost laughed at the irony! If they were found out, they could both lose their jobs. It occurred to her that the chief may have just <em>fallen from grace </em>in more ways than one!</p><p>"He's got her!" Warren shrieked in a high pitched voice. Sure enough, the chief had broken the surface, Vic securely in his arms as he dragged the turnout jacket off of her. Andy couldn't tell if she was conscious. She wasn't moving much but he did have a pretty tight hold on her so maybe she just couldn't.</p><p>The rescue boat came racing towards them, the occupants pulling the two soaked firefighters into the boat, before swiftly heading to the shore.</p><p>Herrera was running on foot. Montgomery just behind her. Technically, they were on aid car, heading to treat a patient.</p><p> </p><p>Vic was coughing, wrapped in a foil blanket when they got near her</p><p>"Vic!" Travis cried, launching himself onto her, before pulling back as if burnt, his face and hands running over her body, checking for injuries. </p><p>"I'm fine!" Vic said</p><p>"Keep the damn mask on!" Ripley called, making his way over, also wrapped in a blanket. She didn't argue, she just put the mask back over her mouth. He sank down next to her, his leg and hip touching hers, he was so close. His jaw was clenched as Vic turned and looked at him</p><p>"I'm Okay!" She told him through the mask, her hand coming to rest on his thigh. He closed his eyes briefly nodding without conviction. "I'm Okay!" His hand grasped hers so quickly, Herrera was surprised.</p><p>"I couldn't find you! It was the most horrendous 30 seconds of my life! I couldn't find you!" He told her.</p><p>"You found me. I'm fine!" She said gently and Herrera felt like she was intruding.</p><p>"Those damn turnouts! The thing that's supposed to keep you protected nearly killed you!" He said angrily and she spoke firmly</p><p>"Luke! Stop it! This wasn't your fault." Andy nearly fell over at the casual use of his name, before reminding herself that she'd just seen Vic's hand resting on his upper thigh, much more intimately than a subordinate touched a boss. It was definitely true then. The chief hadn't flinched, so it was likely they'd done more than use each others first names. Andy nearly rolled her eyes at her own thoughts. Did she think they were playing monopoly? "Nobody could have predicted that that guy was as erratic as he was. He took out Warren...is he okay?" Vic turned quickly to Herrera and Montgomery and they nodded</p><p>"Worried about you!" Herrera answered</p><p>"Victoria!" Ripley groaned, his head going into his hands. <em>He called her Victoria! </em>She'd heard her dad call Vic, Victoria once. He'd been berated for the rest of the day. Now he only did it to wind her up when she wasn't in touching distance. Vic didn't bat an eyelid about the use of her full name from the Chief, though.</p><p>"I'm fine, if anything I should be pissed at you for putting yourself in danger." He looked up sharply, the rims of his eyes, red. </p><p>"If you thought for one second, I wasn't coming in after you, you don't know me as well as I thought you did!" He said gruffly.</p><p>"Please! The boy scout, not come in after me. No chance. The turnout gear wasn't really weighing me down, I just wanted to give you a chance to play hero!" She sniggered and he let out a wet chortle, before pulling her into him and nuzzling her neck. </p><p>Andy really did feel like she was intruding now. Montgomery was openly staring as Vic placed kisses on the chiefs jaw line.</p><p>"I'm fine! You're fine! We're both fine!" She told him. And Andy had to turn away as he pulled back and kissed her, hard on the mouth. Montgomery was still watching, his mouth agape. Andy gently pushed his chin up and sniggered, hoping that the fall from grace they were heading towards was worth it for them both!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you've got any mad ideas that you'd like to see, shoot them at me</p><p>I'm not going to promise I'll add them, but, in life, if you don't ask you don't get 😏</p></blockquote></div></div>
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